Hydrogen supplemental system for on-demand hydrogen generation for internal combustion engines

ABSTRACT

A portable, on-demand hydrogen generation system is provided for producing hydrogen and injecting the hydrogen as a fuel supplement into the air intake of internal combustion engines, more particularly to vehicles. Hydrogen and oxygen is produced with a fuel cell at low temperatures and pressure from water in a supply tank. The hydrogen and oxygen is passed back thru the supply tank for distribution and water preservation. The gases are kept separate by a divider in the tank and the water level in the tank. In the case of gasoline engines, the hydrogen is directed to the air intake of the engine while the oxygen is vented to the atmosphere. The device is optionally powered by the vehicle battery, a stand alone battery, waste heat of the internal combustion engine or solar energy. The system utilizes a vacuum switch or other engine sensor that permits power to the device and therefore hydrogen production only when the engine is in operation. Therefore, as the hydrogen is produced it is immediately consumed by the engine. No hydrogen is stored on, in or around the vehicle.

CROSS-REFERENCES

This is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 13/224,338, filed Sep. 2, 2011,which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 12/790,398, filed May28, 2010 the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to hydrogen generation devices. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to a hydrogen supplementalsystem that can be used with internal combustion engines for increasedfuel efficiency and reduced carbon emissions.

2. Description of the Related Art

There are a number of devices on the market that create HHO gas,otherwise known as Brown's gas, which is used as a supplement togasoline and diesel engines. HHO gas consists of two parts hydrogen toone part oxygen. These devices typically comprise an electrolyzer whichdecomposes water into hydrogen and oxygen. An example is U.S. Pat. No.4,368,696. These electrolyzers typically use an electrolyte, mostnotably KOH, Potassium hydroxide, or baking soda. A voltage is placedacross the device to produce the HHO gas.

The main problem with most of these devices is that the energy requiredto produce the hydrogen creates a substantial load on the electricalsystem of the vehicle. Similar to running the air conditioner in anyvehicle, the additional electrical load causes the miles per gallons tobe reduced. Even though the hydrogen typically boosts the efficiency andmiles per gallon of the vehicle, the additional electrical load on thevehicle to create the hydrogen is usually great enough to minimize or inmany cases negate most or all of mileage gains of the vehicle.

Also, most HHO systems produce the hydrogen and oxygen in a combined gasstream. The hydrogen and oxygen gases are not generally separated fromeach other. In the case of modern gasoline powered vehicles, this extraoxygen is detected by the vehicle's oxygen sensors which communicatethis extra oxygen level to an on-board computer, namely and ElectronicControl Unit ECU of the vehicle. When the ECU detects this extra oxygen,it is a signal that the engine is running lean and the ECU adds moregasoline to the engine. This also negates most of the fuel efficiencygains.

Furthermore, HHO systems generally use either baking soda or PotassiumHydroxide KOH. KOH is generally preferred over baking soda because ofits stability and because it causes less deterioration of stainlesssteel plates or other plates used in the electrolyzer. However, KOH hasto be handled with care because it is caustic, and the crystals can bedangerous if not handled properly. The electrolyte normally has to beinserted into the unit at the proper proportions for optimum operationof the electrolyzer. Extreme care must be taken when using it. It is notthe type of product you would generally like to put in the hands of aninexperienced consumer.

Complex installation is another issue with typical HHO systems. Spaceusually has to be found somewhere in the engine compartment or outsidethe vehicle. Since all vehicles are different, finding a suitable spotunder the hood to install the device in many vehicles is next toimpossible. Also, the systems are typically connected into theelectrical systems of the vehicles which can cause blown fuses and ahost of other problems if not installed properly. Hydrogen is onlyneeded when the vehicle is actually running, not when the ignition isturned on. During the installation, care must be observed to make surethe electrical power is provided to the device only when the engine isrunning. Otherwise there can be hydrogen accumulation in the air intake.This further complicates the installation of these systems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a portable and compact, on-demandhydrogen supplemental system for producing hydrogen gas and injectingthe hydrogen gas into the air intake of internal combustion engines,particularly for vehicles. Hydrogen and oxygen is produced by a fuelcell at low temperatures and pressure from water in a supply tank. Thehydrogen gas and oxygen gas is passed back thru the supply tank fordistribution and water preservation. The gases are kept separate by adivider in the tank and the water level in the tank. In the case ofgasoline engines, the hydrogen gas is directed to the air intake of theengine while the oxygen gas is optionally vented to the atmosphere. Thedevice can be powered by the vehicles alternator, a stand alone battery,waste heat or solar energy. The system utilizes a vacuum switch or otherengine sensor that regulates power to the system and therefore hydrogenproduction for the engine only occurs when the engine is running.Therefore as the hydrogen is produced it is immediately consumed by theengine. No hydrogen is stored on, in or around the vehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and a better understanding of the present invention willbecome apparent from the following detailed description of exampleembodiments and the claims when read in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, all forming a part of the disclosure of this invention. Whilethe foregoing and following written and illustrated disclosure focuseson disclosing example embodiments of the invention, it should be clearlyunderstood that the same is by way of illustration and example only andthe invention is not limited thereto, wherein in the following briefdescription of the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a detailed drawing of a portable hydrogen supplemental systemshowing a water tank and housing design according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic showing a portable hydrogen supplemental systeminstalled in a typical vehicle according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the operation and details of a PEMelectrolyzer according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of another embodiment of the water tank 6 accordingto the present invention.

FIGS. 5A-B are diagrams of another embodiment of a mounting bracket 3according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of an embodiment of the control circuit 50 accordingto the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention as will be described in greater detail belowprovides an apparatus, method and system, particularly, for example, ahydrogen supplemental system used to increase the fuel efficiency andreduce carbon emissions for internal combustion engines. The presentinvention provides various embodiments as described below. However itshould be noted that the present invention is not limited to theembodiments described herein, but could extend to other embodiments aswould be known or as would become known to those skilled in the art.

The present invention as shown in FIG. 1 provides a portable hydrogensupplemental system 1 which includes a housing unit 2 that can besecured in the trunk or other flat surface of a vehicle by mountingbracket 3 and fastening units 4. Inside the housing unit 2 are a fuelcell 5 and a nonelectrolyte water tank 6 positioned above the fuel cell5 arranged in such a manner as to supply nonelectrolyte water 7 to thefuel cell 5 by gravity. The nonelectrolyte water tank 6 is supported inthe housing unit 2 above the fuel cell 5 by supporting means 8. Thehousing unit 2 is designed to be readily removable from the mountingbracket 3.

The nonelectrolyte water tank 6 includes a water supply fitting 9positioned on the underside thereof connected to a tube or other supplymeans 10 that is in turn connected to water inlet fitting 11 on the fuelcell 5. Nonelectrolyte water 7 is supplied to the fuel cell 5 by thesupply means 10. The fuel cell 5 also includes a hydrogen gas outletfitting 12 and an oxygen gas outlet fitting 13 which are connected bytubes or additional supply means 14 and 15 to gas inlet fittings 16 onthe underside of the nonelectrolyte water tank 6. The nonelectrolytewater tank 6 includes at least one divider 17 that divides the tank 6into at least two sections, a hydrogen section 18 and an oxygen section19. The divider 17 is formed along the inner wall of the tank 6 andextends to approximately ¼″ from the bottom surface 20 of the tank 6.The tank 6 includes a fill spout 21 which permits the tank 6 to befilled with nonelectrolyte water. As nonelectrolyte water 7 is placedinto the tank 6, the tank 6 fills evenly on both sides of the divider17.

The fuel cell 5, which is commonly known to produce electricity, isoperated in reverse to produce hydrogen and oxygen gases. Thus, the fuelcell 5 essentially operates as an electrolyzer, which as described abovedecomposes nonelectrolyte water 7 into hydrogen and oxygen and ishereinafter referred to as an electrolyzer 5. Nonelectrolyte water 7fills the electrolyzer 5 from the nonelectrolyte water tank 6 and when avoltage, having positive and negative terminals, is placed across theelectrolyzer 5, hydrogen and oxygen gases are produced on opposing sidesof the electrolyzer 5.

According to the invention the electrolyzer 5 can, for example, be aproton exchange membrane or polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM)electrolyzer. A PEM electrolyzer includes a semipermeable membranegenerally made from ionomers and designed to conduct protons while beingimpermeable to gases such as oxygen or hydrogen. This is their essentialfunction when incorporated into a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) of aproton exchange membrane fuel cell or of a proton exchange membraneelectrolyzer: separation of reactants and transport of protons.

As known an electrolyzer is a device that generates hydrogen and oxygenfrom water through the of electricity and includes a series of platesthrough which water flows while low voltage direct current is applied.Electrolyzers split the water into hydrogen and oxygen gases by thepassage of electricity, normally by breaking down compounds intoelements or simpler products.

A PEM electrolyzer is shown in FIG. 3. The PEM electrolyzer includes aplurality of layers which are non-liquid including at least two externallayers and an internal layer, including external electrodes 41 disposedopposite to each other one of which is the anode 41 a and the other ofwhich is the cathode 41 b, electrocatalysts 42 a and 42 b disposedrespectively on the anode 41 a and the cathode 41 b, and a membrane 43disposed between the electrocatalysts 42 a and 42 b. The PEMelectrolyzer further includes an external circuit 44 which applieselectrical power to the anode 41 a and the cathode 41 b in a manner suchthat electrical power in the form of electrons flow from the anode 41 a,along the external circuit 44, to the cathode 41 b and protons arecaused to flow through the membrane 43 from the anode 41 a to thecathode 41 b.

The efficiency of a PEM electrolyzer is a function primarily of itsmembrane and electro-catalyst performance. The membrane 43 includes asolid fluoropolymer which has been chemically altered in part to containsulphonic acid groups, SO₃H, which easily release their hydrogen aspositively-charged atoms or protons H⁺: SO₃H->SO₃ ⁻+H⁺

These ionic or charged forms allow water to penetrate into the membranestructure but not the product gases, namely molecular hydrogen H₂ andoxygen O₂. The resulting hydrated proton, H₃O⁺, is free to move whereasthe sulphonate ion SO₃ ⁻ remains fixed to the polymer side-chain. Thus,when an electric field is applied across the membrane 43 the hydratedprotons are attracted to the negatively charged electrode, known as thecathode 41 b. Since a moving charge is identical with electric current,the membrane 43 acts as a conductor of electricity. It is said to be aprotonic conductor.

A typical membrane material that is used is called “nafion”. Nafion is aperfluorinated polymer that contains small proportions of sulfonic orcarboxylic ionic functional groups.

Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 3, nonelectrolyte water, H2O, enters theelectrolyzer 5 and is split at the surface of the membrane 43 to formprotons, electrons and gaseous oxygen. The gaseous oxygen leaves theelectrolyzer 5 while the protons move through the membrane 43 under theinfluence of the applied electric field and electrons move through theexternal circuit 44. The protons and electrons combine at the oppositesurface, namely the negatively charged electrode, known as the cathode41 b, to form pure gaseous hydrogen.

During operation of the electrolyzer 5, a small amount of nonelectrolytewater 7 may be contained in hydrogen gas bubbles 22 and oxygen gasbubbles 23 as they emerge from the hydrogen outlet 12 and oxygen outlet13, respectively, of the electrolyzer 5, and flow into the hydrogen side18 and oxygen side 19 of the tank 6. The bubbles rise (travel) thru thenonelectrolyte water 7 to upper air cavities 24 formed by the waterlevel in the tank and the tank divider 17. Since the hydrogen and oxygenmay contain a small amount of nonelectrolyte water 7, the hydrogen andoxygen gases are passed back through the nonelectrolyte water tank 6 forwater preservation so that said small amount of nonelectrolyte water 7will remain in the nonelectrolyte water tank 6 rather than be retainedin the gases. The hydrogen and oxygen gases are kept separate from eachother in the upper cavities 24 by the divider 17 and water level in thetank 6. As the hydrogen gas and oxygen gas fill their respective uppercavities 24, the gas flows out of the upper cavities thru fittings 25 inthe case of hydrogen, and fitting 26, in the case of oxygen on the upperside of the tank. The hydrogen gas flows thru tube 27 connected tohydrogen fitting 28 of the housing unit 2. The oxygen flows thru tube 29connected to fitting 30 of the housing unit 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, a vehicle 31 powered by a gasoline or diesel engine32 is equipped with the portable hydrogen supplemental system 1. Poweris supplied to the portable hydrogen supplemental system 1 by a vehiclebattery 33 connected to electrical wires 34. The electrical circuit tothe portable hydrogen supplemental system 1 includes a vacuum switch 35,or other engine sensor and an operator controlled switch 36 whichcompletes the electrical circuit to the portable hydrogen supplementalsystem 1 when the engine is running. Once power is supplied to theportable hydrogen supplemental system 1, hydrogen gas flows thruhydrogen outlet tube 37 connected to hydrogen fitting 28 of the housingunit 2 to an air intake 38 of the vehicle's engine 32. Oxygen gas flowsthru oxygen outlet tube 39 and, in the case of gasoline engines withoxygen sensors, is vented to the atmosphere. The two gasses canoptionally be combined for diesel engine vehicles or other internalcombustion engines without oxygen sensors.

An alternative embodiment of the water tank 6 is illustrated in FIG. 4.As per the water tank 6 as shown in FIG. 4 dividers 17 a and 17 b areprovided at opposite ends of the tank 6 so as to divide the tank 6 intoa hydrogen section 18 and an oxygen section 19. Each divider 17 a,b isformed along the inner wall of the tank 6 and extends to approximately¼″ from the bottom surface 20 of the tank 6. As nonelectrolyte water 7is placed into the tank 6, the tank 6 fills evenly on both sides of eachof the dividers 17 a and 17 b.

As described above according to the invention as the hydrogen gas andoxygen gas fill their respective upper cavities 24, the gas flows out ofthe upper cavities thru fitting 25 in the case of hydrogen, and fitting26, in the case of oxygen on the upper side of the tank. Alternativelythe fittings 25 and 26 can be replaced by gas collectors 45 and 46. Eachgas collector 45, 46 is constructed to contain baffles 47 a and 47 bthat serve to prevent water from splashing into or entering the tubes 27and 29. Each baffle 47 a,b is configured to extend perpendicularly froman inner surface of the gas collectors 45 and 46. Particularly, baffle47 a is configured to extend from a portion of the inner surface of agas collector 45, 46 opposite to another portion of the inner surface ofthe gas collector 45, 46 from which baffle 47 b extends.

An alternative embodiment of the mounting bracket 3 is illustrated inFIGS. 5A-B. The mounting bracket 3 has formed therein oblong holes 48positioned near the corners of the mounting bracket 3 for receivingscrews/studs disposed on the undersigned of the housing unit 2. Theoblong holes 48 upon receiving the screws/studs disposed on theundersigned of the housing unit 2 allows for the housing unit 2 to beremovably attached to the mounting bracket 3. The housing unit 2 beingremovable from the mounting bracket 3 permits the user to remove theapparatus for servicing including adding water, performing repairs,exchanging parts, and the like.

The electrical circuit can, for example, be provided by a controlcircuit 50 as illustrated in FIG. 6 for controlling the portablehydrogen supplemental system 1. The control circuit 50 includes a vacuumswitch 35, or other engine sensor, that provides a positive output whenthe engine is operating, an operator controlled switch 36 which providesthe positive output from the vacuum switch 35 when the operatorcontrolled switch 36 is moved to the on position, a global positioningsystem (GPS) 51 which provides a positive output when the speed of theautomobile exceeds a predetermined level, AND gate 52, or other suchcircuitry, that provides a positive output when both the operatorcontrolled switch 36 and the GPS 51 outputs are positive, and a switch53 which switches electrical power to the electrolyzer 5 when the ANDgate 52 supplies a positive output, thereby causing the electrolyzer 5to operate when the engine is operating and the speed of the automobileexceeds a predetermined level.

The portable hydrogen supplemental system 1 operates optimally in agasoline powered engine when the load on the engine does not exceed apredetermined level and the amount of hydrogen produced by the Hydrogensupplemental system and supplied to the gasoline powered engine fallswithin a preset range.

In a gasoline powered engine the electrical power used by the portablehydrogen supplemental system is supplied by the engine alternator. Asdescribed above the electrical power is only supplied when the engine isoperating and the speed of the automobile exceeds a predetermined level.Thus, the load placed on the engine by the portable hydrogensupplemental system 1 is related to the amount of electrical power drawnfrom the alternator as measured in amps. Optimally the portable hydrogensupplemental system 1 works best on a gasoline powered engine when theload on the engine does not exceed a current of 4 amps being drawn fromthe alternator, or if measured another way of 56 watts. It should benoted that the amount of amps or watts is dependent upon the size of theengine and alternator (four, six or eight cylinders, etc.). It shouldalso be noted that diesel engines have a different optimal load setting.

Further, in a gasoline powered engine the optimal amount of hydrogenproduced by the portable hydrogen supplemental system 1 and supplied tothe gasoline powered engine falls within a preset range of 0.10-0.25liters per minute.

Based on the above a gasoline powered automobile achieves the highestlevel of fuel efficiency measured in miles/gallon of gas when the loadon the engine does not exceed 4 amps, or if measured another way of 56watts, and the amount of hydrogen produced and supplied to the gasolinepowered engine falls within a preset range of 0.10-0.25 liters perminute.

While the invention has been described in terms of its preferredembodiments, it should be understood that numerous modifications may bemade thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention. It is intended that all such modifications fall within thescope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A portable hydrogen supplemental system forsupplying hydrogen gas to an internal combustion engine comprising: ahousing unit; a fuel cell mounted inside the housing unit that convertswater into hydrogen and oxygen gas; a water tank mounted inside thehousing unit and positioned to supply water to the fuel cell; a powersupply for supplying electrical power to the fuel cell; an engine sensorfor detecting operation of the internal combustion engine and; anoperator control switch, wherein the water tank includes at least onetank divider which separates the water tank into at least two sectionsthat are both filled with water when water is placed into the watertank; wherein the water tank includes at least first and second gascollection cavities at a top portion thereof for collecting hydrogen andoxygen gas respectively, the gas collection cavities being formed by atop surface of the water tank, the tank divider and the water level inthe water tank; wherein each gas collection cavity includes a fitting atthe top thereof for distributing one of the hydrogen and oxygen gas outof the water tank; wherein the power supply supplies electrical power tothe fuel cell when the engine sensor detects that the internalcombustion engine is in operation and the operator control switch isactivated; wherein the fuel cell, when supplied with electrical power,produces hydrogen and oxygen gases from the water being supplied to thefuel cell, said hydrogen and oxygen gases being directed through thewater tank into the gas collection cavities at the top thereof forproper distribution of the gases such that the hydrogen gas is suppliedto the internal combustion engine for combustion therein; wherein thewater tank includes first and second dividers provided at opposite endsof the tank to divide the tank into a hydrogen section and an oxygensection; and wherein each divider is formed along an inner wall of thewater tank and extends to a predetermined position from the bottomsurface of the water tank such that when water is placed into the watertank, the water tank fills evenly on both sides of each of the dividers.